SUBJECT

^{⇒ FURTHER BOOKS}

Joachim Zelter
untertan / subject
novel
220 pages
Tübingen: Klöpfer & Meyer, 2012

Here it is, Heinrich Mann’s 20^th century classic, The Loyal Subject, narrated anew, transposed from the world of Prussian militarism and monarchy to the realm of contemporary democracies and free-market economies. With great sensitivity and insight Zelter sets off to recount what has long been overdue: the genesis of the modern version of a Prussian subject, portrayed from early childhood to maturity, from the seventies to the present. The novel is a psychological study, a portrayal of individual as well as collective adjustment – and human estrangement. With irresistible force Zelter explores the coming of a new era, no longer authoritarian, but thoroughly economic, a world of utilisation, exploitation and futility. In the end, the novel does portray a process of profound transformation, no less than the compelling process of how we have progressively become what we are to today.

Reviews:

“Comedy and wit, profundity and pure entertainment … are no longer opposites in German literature.”
Die Welt

“A pleasure to read and at the same time a work which makes one think – what more can one desire.”
Deutschlandradio

“Timeless and ageless in a frightening way.”
Neue Zürcher Zeitung

„Highly tragical and at the same time exceedingly comic.“
ARD. German Television.

„Combining a satirical account of our present time with the everlasting tragedy of mankind.“
Frankfurter Rundschau